St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1887-07-09
sTANFoRo.s YOUTH.
ame Callfornia A0SlliOaaire Tells the Story
Of His Early Struggles.


Discussing the story the other day As
to how Abram S. Hewitt earned his
first money, an old Californian said:
Il was talking With Senator Stanford
on that subject recently. and asked
him how he earned his first dollar.
The Senator smiled and replied: Ire
it just as well as If it had oc-
Cured yesterday. ! was a farmers
son. he continued. and. and l lived
on my fathers farm in the Mohawk
valley. between Albany and Schencta-
dy. on what was then known rs the
Consaul road. There were three
brothers Of us I was six years old
at the time. Ny father was a con-
tractor and was absent from
home a good deal of the time. leaving
the place in charge of the gardener.
who went to the market at Schenectady
twice q week with a wagon-load Of
vegetables to sell at the market. One
day my brothers and myself gathered
q lot Of horseradish in the garden.
washed it clean and sent it to market
with the rest of the vegetables. When
he came home 1t night the gardener
handed us six York shillings. which
was the profit Of our produce. and we
divided it evenly. each of us having
two shillings. That was the first
money I ever earned. and / never see .
boy trying to earn . few pennies with
out feeling q renewed qualification at
my success in that endeavor.
MY next financial endeavor.' con-
tinued the Senator, was in 1881 or
1882 We boys were in the habit Of
gathering . store Of chestnuts every
fall and putting them = the garret
for winters use. One day our hired
man came home from market and
and told - . bit Of gossip that chest
nuts were worth 35 . bushel in mar
ket The next time the gardner went
to town we put what we had gath
cred in grain bags and sent them in
by him. He sold them for Is a
bushel and brought us home t25. which
you. perhaps, can understand was q
large sum Of money for boys Of our
age in those days when grown men
were working for two shillings q
day. Until I went to Albany to
study law in 1886. when was twen-
ty-two years Of age. I attended the
country schools and picked up the
rudiments of an education in them. In
the summer I worked on farm. and at
times assisted my father in his con-
tracts. seeing . little Of the world
around me. One winter. when I was
about eighteen years old. and . stout,
vigorous boy. my father bought q lot
Of woodland and told me that il I
would cut the timber Of ] might have
the proceeds. went to work with .
will and cut twenty-six hundred cords
that winter-not alone. but with the
assistance Of some men ! hired. When
the wood was cut l hauled it to town
and sold it to the Mohawk & Hudson
River railroad. now q part Of the New
York Central system. / made profit
Of one dollar . cord on the transaction
and found myself the possessor Of twen-
ty-six hundred dollars
+" After finishing my studies in the
ofice Of Wheaton. Doolittle & Hadley
in Albany continued the Senator.
and being admitted to the bar. ! got
the Western fever. and started with
another young man to the northern
part Of Wisconsin. I was not very
successful a. . lawyer and used to
write on political and other Subjects
and took . great interest in the village
debating society and local politics.
Several Of my fellow-tcwnsmen who
were similarly inclined Joined with me
in organizing . company for the pur-
pose Of publishing . paper. / had q
narrow escape from becoming An edit
or. We learned that there was
press and an outfit Of type for sale in
Milwaukee which could be had for
500. 1t was long and tedious ride. and
you may imagine my disappointment
upon my arrival at my destination to
find that the press and outfit had been
sold few days before. The enter
prise was abandoned. / went back TO
the law, but soon after had another
misfortune. The building in which !
had my Office burned. and with it all
my law books and worldly possessions
Twas almost hopeless then. and gladly
accepted an invitation from my
brothers to join them in California.
This was in 1859, four years after the
discovery of gold on the Pacific slope.
and. packing up the few things l had
left set out overland to the Golcon-
da Arriving there. l settled in little
town called Michigan Bluffs. in the
mercantile business. and three years
later moved to San Francisco where /
have since lived IN y SWM
n Was Sarah's Mother.